Best advice on how to proceed?

[MaddieMia 0]

Me and my partner are looking on what we can do to be together, and a K1 visa looked like the best way to proceed. English isnt my first language, so please be undestanding of any typo.
We have been dating for two and a half years, recently had our first in person meeting and have talked about our intent to marry.
Thing is, i've been reading this site for the last few days and all I have read has really discouraged me. Despite being together for weeks, we focused more on having a good time together rather than taking pictures so we don't have as many distinct pictures as other applicants I have read from this sites. Our conversations and video/voice chats are mostly contained on a single app, and I dont know. Dont wanna give away tons of info to internet strangers but I don't think our relationship looks anything like the approved ones from 5+ years old threads about argentinian applicants.
I have read here that since I am from a poor country, a lot more will be asked of us during the interview and stuff. Having had a tourist visa declined (with which I planned to visit her) has left a bad taste in my mouth and leads me to believe that.
Would you say pursuing a K1 visa is a possibility for us, would we have any chance of approval? Should we wait? and if not, what do you recommend?

 

[Sarah&Facundo 580]

We went through the Argentinian consulate. Argentina is not a high fraud country. For the K1, you need to prove you met once in the last two years to meet the qualifications, which it seems you have. Our interview was pretty quick and we had no issues getting approved.

[Boiler 44,053]

Generally better to Marry and file for a CR1 but obviously depends on the specifics.

[Ryan H 3,798]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[smilingstone 49]

How does your relationship not look like the approved ones you have read about?

 

Everyone is different. Me and my fiancé didn't focus on pics either, we provided 1 image in our application. There is much more weight on evidencing a physical meet up with boarding passes, flight itineraries, accommodation booking, etc. 

 

VJers generally advise that pics are not the strongest of evidence as without time stamps (which can be easily falsified anyway) and meta data, there is no way to really prove the pics were taken when you say they were.

[Fe.Ta 866]

11 hours ago, MaddieMia said:

Me and my partner are looking on what we can do to be together, and a K1 visa looked like the best way to proceed. English isnt my first language, so please be undestanding of any typo.
We have been dating for two and a half years, recently had our first in person meeting and have talked about our intent to marry.
Thing is, i've been reading this site for the last few days and all I have read has really discouraged me. Despite being together for weeks, we focused more on having a good time together rather than taking pictures so we don't have as many distinct pictures as other applicants I have read from this sites. Our conversations and video/voice chats are mostly contained on a single app, and I dont know. Dont wanna give away tons of info to internet strangers but I don't think our relationship looks anything like the approved ones from 5+ years old threads about argentinian applicants.
I have read here that since I am from a poor country, a lot more will be asked of us during the interview and stuff. Having had a tourist visa declined (with which I planned to visit her) has left a bad taste in my mouth and leads me to believe that.
Would you say pursuing a K1 visa is a possibility for us, would we have any chance of approval? Should we wait? and if not, what do you recommend?

 

Hello!

 

I understand your privacy concerns.  But, is there a way you can elaborate as far as "it does not look like the rest".  If the issue is only pictures, that should not be a huge worry.  Some officers like to see pictures more than others but it is not the strongest evidence you can submit.  Does she have the tickets from her travel?  Any reservation from the hotel, etc.?  Receipts for things you did together while she was there?

With immigration, it has never been about being from a poor country, but rather if the country is high fraud because of immigration scams.  Argentina might have its financial struggles, but it is not considered high fraud when it comes to immigration.  Tourist visas are always more difficult than K1s and CR1s.

Both K1 and CR1 have their own benefits, it will depend on your relationship and where you are at.

We have a Whatsapp group for Argentina members where we can speak Spanish.  If you are interested in joining, feel free to message me privately.

[MaddieMia 0]

37 minutes ago, Fe.Ta said:

Hello!

 

I understand your privacy concerns.  But, is there a way you can elaborate as far as "it does not look like the rest".

 

 

Okay, so, like- there is a bunch of stuff I have read from other couples with like. Frequency of visits, letters written to each other and physical gifts, contact with the other's family and that kind of stuff. Neither of uses uses social media apart from the app we use for communication. There is also a somewhat significant age gap between the two of us, which I have read is a red flag?

Also idk how much this affects but like. We are a same sex couple, neither of us is very outgoing and idk, just feel like we would be an easy one to decline >.<

[Sarah&Facundo 580]

23 minutes ago, MaddieMia said:

 

Okay, so, like- there is a bunch of stuff I have read from other couples with like. Frequency of visits, letters written to each other and physical gifts, contact with the other's family and that kind of stuff. Neither of uses uses social media apart from the app we use for communication. There is also a somewhat significant age gap between the two of us, which I have read is a red flag?

Also idk how much this affects but like. We are a same sex couple, neither of us is very outgoing and idk, just feel like we would be an easy one to decline >.<

None of those things you mentioned are required. If you have them, then that's great! You can add them to your application. Also, you are looking at a one year minimum wait (but probably more) until you have an interview, so you can add visits (which you should, just in terms of the marriage itself--not immigration) or any other items during that time if you wanted to. If either of you have plane tickets, passport stamps, hotel receipts, etc. to prove you were physically together, that supersedes any photos. But even if you have just one photo together, that would be helpful. 

 

Remember-if you apply, there is a chance you will be approved. If you don't apply, your answer will be 100% no. 

 

[MaddieMia 0]

My worry is less with the initial filling but the later interview. My partner can only visit once a year for work reasons and like. yeah. >.<

[Sarah&Facundo 580]

You'll likely have at least a year until you receive an interview anyway, so hopefully your partner can visit again soon. Even if it is a short visit-I've done quick trips to Argentina before over long weekends. But technically you only need to meet once to satisfy the requirement. 

[Sarah&Facundo 580]

Another option to see each other--If you want to meet in another country that is closer and easier for the US beneficiary to travel to over a holiday weekend (like Thanksgiving), you could always meet elsewhere. Ezeiza has direct flights to Mexico & Colombia and Argentinians don't need visas for those countries. 

[MaddieMia 0]

various visits like that might stretch our budget a little but I hadn't considered it, so thanks!

[SalishSea 17,075]

9 minutes ago, MaddieMia said:

various visits like that might stretch our budget a little but I hadn't considered it, so thanks!

If budget is a concern, K-1 is the wrong choice (for many reasons, but primarily due to wage loss for up to a year for the beneficiary).    Also:  time spent together in person is the best evidence you can have. 

[MaddieMia 0]

Budget is a concern in the like- "we maybe cant afford to meet various times a year on a third country" but yeah we have taken into consideration the time before I can work once there
however is the difference between this and CR1 that big? we didn't want to get married quite yet because felt like rushing things and I would like to do it over there if possible

[Fe.Ta 866]

5 hours ago, MaddieMia said:

 

Okay, so, like- there is a bunch of stuff I have read from other couples with like. Frequency of visits, letters written to each other and physical gifts, contact with the other's family and that kind of stuff. Neither of uses uses social media apart from the app we use for communication. There is also a somewhat significant age gap between the two of us, which I have read is a red flag?

Also idk how much this affects but like. We are a same sex couple, neither of us is very outgoing and idk, just feel like we would be an easy one to decline >.<

 

Letters written to one another and physical gifts are not strong evidence when you consider the totem pole of evidence.

Visits are definitely strong and contact with family members can also be beneficial.  Now, think about it and don't box yourself in.

For example, we (my husband and I) do not use social media.  Therefore, we did not have all the posts about one another or the interactions with the family.  However, the trips that I made there, I took one or two pictures with my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law (they hated pictures, but we made sure we had them).  My parents are older than the average age for our generation.  Thus, their contact with my husband while he was in Argentina was not constant because they do not use tech-savvy phones, but they did talk on the phone and they were aware of our progress.  What we did was include signed letters of support from each parent sent stating they knew about the relationship, how it progressed, that they supported the relationship, and that even though time spent was limited because of distance we all were like a family unit.  The letters were signed and included with a copy of a picture ID of the parent that signed it to corroborate the signature.  These were included in the similarity of the intent to marry letters (we went the K1 route).

As far as the travels and the meetings, maybe frequency is not an option but longevity could be.  Shorter trips more often might not work for expenses or whatever your plans are, and that is OK.  But, maybe she can come and work remotely for a certain amount of time?  In other words, 4 trips a year for 5 days is frequent but not enough time to co-exist versus one trip a year that is a month or longer would give you time to get to know each other on a daily basis and it will also be good for USCIS because it is more time spent together (i.e one month or 30+ days is more than 4 trips of 5 days, which is 20 days).  I had longer trips myself where I would stay 3 or four weeks, and that was better money-wise, for our relationship, and for USCIS.  In fact, my last trip was purposely booked once I knew the interview date.  I booked it so I could arrive a few days before, be there for the interview (even though it is not needed and I was not asked to come in), and we had plenty of time after the interview to finalize apostille and legalization prior to both of us leaving the country together.

Same sex would be an issue in other countries.  But, Argentina and USA are not one of those countries.  Regarding the age gap, by itself, it is not enough to cause a decline, and there are plenty of couples on VJ that are both same sex and have an age gap that have been approved without any issues.

K1 and CR1 have both their pros and cons and one you can decide what is best for your journey and where your relationship is at.  @Crazy Cat has a good list for each option that can help you make that decision.

All I have to say is, immigration is going to be tough, regardless of the option, and it will be a long ride.  Make sure you both talk about it, consider where you are at, what matters to you most, your needs as a couple, and manage your expectations.  Then, buckle up for the ride.

Edited June 2 by Fe.Ta
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